Czech Language and Literature

The programme Czech Language and Literature is aimed at students interested in specialized training focused on linguistics and theoretical approaches to literature. In the extent adequate to B.A. degree, students will gain complex knowledge on contemporary Czech language and literature, an insight into their historical development and elementary knowledge of theoretical approaches to language and literature. The programme also offers numerous specialized courses providing background and perspective for possible future specialization in studies or in practice (within the linguistic orientation e.g. courses focused on dialectology, corpus linguistics, proof-reading etc., within the literary orientation e.g. courses focused on its specifics during the course of time, on fantasy, on literature for children and youth etc.). The qualification gained enriched with systematically developed readiness for professional practice will provide graduates with prerequisites for continuing the studies at the M.A. level (including the programme for future teachers) and also opens wide range of possibilities to find positions in practical life already after completing the B.A. programme. Knowledge of Czech language and literature at a professional level, the capability to use the prestigious variety of Czech for the purpose of practical communication, acquiring practical skills in work with sources of information and in creating texts provide graduates with the possibility to work in a wide range of cultural institutions and media.

“Language itself is the soul and culture of a nation. (K. Čapek)”

The programme Czech Language and Literature offers several study plans. Students of single-subject and double-subject programmes may specialize by choosing suitable selective courses, focusing on some aspects of Czech studies from literary or linguistic points of view (the development of language, present-day codification, theories of grammar, corpus linguistics, the development of Czech literature, interpretations of fiction from viewpoints of history, theoretical approaches and criticism). The programme Czech Language and Literature includes a specialized study plan Czech for foreigners aimed at non-native speakers of Czech at high level of communication skills (B2), who strive at the complex study of Czech language and literature. Graduates with this specialization will increase their language competences to the level C2 and will also gain training providing a firm basis for further qualification in the sphere of teaching Czech as a foreign language or in the sphere of translation. This kind of B.A. study programme is not available in the Czech Republic, there is only a similar M.A. programme at the University of Ostrava.

Graduates from the single-subject B.A. programme can find positions in a wide scale of occupations where expert knowledge of Czech language and literature is required. They are able to work in media, in publishing houses and in other cultural institutions, in state administration and in the private sphere as experts ready for a wide range of work with texts, for communication with the public, for organizing events etc. Graduates form the double-subject programme can find a wider scale of positions, in relation to the other subject (e.g. in relation to journalism as editors in media, in relation to foreign languages as experts in specialized positions in publishing houses or in PR etc.). Graduates from the specialization Czech for foreigners are able to work as experts in representative offices of their home countries in the Czech Republic as well as in representative offices of the Czech Republic abroad, as language experts in private companies or in cultural institutions focused on international cooperation.

You can submit your e-applications for studies from 1 November to 29 February.

The date and time of the examination will be stated in the electronic invitation for the examination, which will be uploaded to your e-application. The faculty will not be sending paper invitations.

The Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University disregards the results of SCIO National Comparative Examinations. Applicants applying for the major study plan and minor study plan in a combined study must comply with the conditions for admission into both plans.

The admission requirements for the specialization Czech for Foreigners are described below.

Czech Language and Literature

The criteria for admission for studies are the results of the Learning Potential Test (TSP). Applicants may also be admitted based on other criteria, see Admission without the Entrance Examination.

Learning Potential Test (TSP)

This test is only in Czech. For up-to-date information, click here

Field of Study Examination

For admission for studies of this degree programme, you do not need to take the Field of Study Examination.

Admission without the entrance examination

You may be exempt from the entrance examination based on at least one of the following criteria:

1. successful participation in the regional round of Students’ Professional Activities (SOČ) in the field of study 15 - Teorie kultury, umění a umělecké tvorby. Successful applicants are considered to be those who have been ranked 1st to 3rd. In justified cases, and on the basis of an assessment of the content of the work, the above-mentioned ranking in another SIC subject may be taken into account at the applicant's request. The application must include the work in question, accompanied by a certificate from the secondary school;
2. secondary school results in the profile subjects Czech language (not Slovak), English language and a choice of two other subjects from the following options: history, French, Italian, computer science, Latin, mathematics, German, Russian, Spanish, basic social sciences / civics.

Secondary school results may be applied for an exemption from the entrance examination by those applicants whose average grade was 1.0 in each of the four profile subjects. The total average result in all subjects is not taken into consideration. Secondary school seminars are also disregarded. The average grade of each profile subject is calculated based on the results of the last four years of study in the following way: the mid-year grade is calculated from the final year, whereas the final grades are calculated from the previous three years. It is also necessary that applicants have studied each of the profile subjects for at least three years during the last four years.
Enter your grades in your e-application. Then print the grades out and let your secondary school certify them with a stamp and a signature. Upload the scan of the certified grades into your e-application. You can also upload officially certified school reports or any other documents certifying your school results.
Please upload the officially certified documents directly to your e-application in the section Application for the Exemption from the Entrance Examination no later than 28 February.

Czech for Foreigners – specialisation of the Czech Language and Literature programme

This specialisation is designated exclusively for applicants whose mother tongue is not Czech, who have not taken a secondary school leaving examination for Czech, and who want to study Czech language and literature both practically and theoretically. Applicants are expected to have knowledge of the Czech language at least at the B1/B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Learning Potential Test (TSP)

For admission for studies in this specialisation, you do not need to take the TSP.

Field of Study Examination

The admission requirement is to successfully pass the Field of Study Examination. It is given in the form of a written test to ascertain the initial level of knowledge of the Czech language. The applicant must prove they have advanced knowledge of the language (B1/B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

The written test has three parts:

1. summary of a read text;
2. grammar-lexical part;
3. orthographic part.

The score (%) limit for successfully passing the entrance examination is 50% for each part of the field of examination test.

Sample Field of Study Test
Sample Field of Study Test: Answer Key

Admission without the entrance examination

For admission for studies in this specialisation, you cannot be exempted from taking the entrance examination.

Criteria for evaluation

Applicants for the Czech Language and Literatureprogramme will be sorted into the admission order based on their TSP results:

• Limit for TSP percentile for successfully passing the entrance examination: 40

Applicants for the Czech for Foreigners specialisation will be sorted into the admission order based on the classification of the field of study test:

• Total number of points in the Field of Study Examination: 100
• Limit for successfully passing the Field of Study Examination: 50

The score (%) limit for successfully passing the entrance examination is 50% for each part of the field of study test.

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Minimum score and numbers of accepted applicants in past years

After fulfilling conditions for an admission, graduates from the B.A. programme are able to continue with an M.A. programme focused on Czech studies at various universities.